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Is this the little train who couldn’t or am I being too harsh a critic? They’ve had months to redeem themselves and there are still issues with the character development, continuity and storyline development that leave us wanting.

I hate to even say this, because it’s been the only humour on the show since Nicole first came to town, but I’ve been completely over Victor’s nasty streak. The dialogue, while perhaps amusing for a younger person, is starting to squick me out. We get that Victor is a cranky bastard, but can we dispense with the 70 year old man discussing inflatable sex dolls? His humour doesn’t fit his age and the consistent crustiness leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. I loved the Victor of old. Who is this guy? Monday, Kate wanted to find Lucas a more suitable mate. Victor suggested that an inflatable sex doll should fit the bill, and all Kate (the big protector of her kids) says is, "You’re bad." Wouldn’t she feel this disrespect was a reflection on her mothering? Her reaction to the comment would have been more believable if she rolled her eyes or told him off. Victor commented she’s back to her old self with this new –dare I say the word- vendetta, for Chloe, the woman who saved her life.

Stefano asked her out Monday and he reappeared Friday, making the continuity a lot better than it has been!

Will returned and this young actor seems to fit the role very well, so far. I was happy the writers made a point to let us know Will did not shoot EJ. Bringing up Lucas shooting EJ in the back was a good idea, considering that’s when Will left. It made me feel as though they were picking off where they left off and allowed viewers to open up to the idea of a new Will. In fact, 41% of you are happy with him already! I have always wondered if in the past, the old writers were going in the direction of having Will be the shooter. With all the changes since, that’s not going to happen and I’m glad to close the book on that mystery in my head.

I have mixed feelings about EJ and Sami’s scenes. He’s fine. It’s her that I can’t stand. I can handle the pathetic nagging of Nicole, more than I can stomach Sami’s daily whiny rants. The woman overreacts about everything. Take A Valium. The ranting causes me to stop listening and then I miss nuances with them. Is there a way perhaps for Sami to get her point across without screaming? I liked them when they first met, when Sami was a softer person and we were just finding out about EJ’s dastardly deeds. Sure, she’s always had this whiny, jump before listening attitude, but this is just over the top. I grow tired of the overreacting, yelling, complaining, arguing and found myself wanting to knock their heads together. If she were a kid, her report card would have a note attached to it. "Sami needs to learn to listen to others. She will be liked more if she tries harder to play nicely with the other children."

The townhouse scenes: I realize they’ve major budget cuts but holy smokes. Marlena’s beautiful townhouse is now low rent! I tried to look beyond Sami’s bull poop and the fugly set and here’s what I saw: Ego maniacal EJ became jealous of Rafe and his connection to Sami, after hearing the story about the Laughing Penguin and again after seeing the kiss. I was happy Rafe held his own with the Golden Child and scored one for Rafe and another for Safe. Their easy banter was quite nice to watch. Sami noted that EJ has changed. I’ll buy that, but not in every way. Sami admitted part of her would always love him, which threw me. For somebody who never admitted to loving him in the past, why would she say this now? Possibly just to reconnect these two. I’m not sure. I thought it absurd that Sami, who is trying to hide Grace from EJ, would let her guard down in front of him and show how emotional she was feeling. Then, she pulled a Nicole and called the convent while EJ was a room away. She did this earlier in the week when Nicole overheard. She must be rusty with scheming.

Nicole in 1970, Nicole in 2009! Beautiful! (Soaps.com)

Should EJ have told Nicole he was headed to Sami’s place? He left word with Mary, which should have been good enough but the nag blew a gasket when she found out, causing Stefano to almost overhear her saying that Sydney was Sami’s daughter! I suppose Nicole was never that confident. These insecurities don’t just crop up. She’s had them all along, but I enjoyed her when she first returned. Why do we have to suffer through every scene with her being this needy mess? She’s ruining every relationship she has, but it seems even though she dumped Brady’s friendship because her husband told her to, our first thoughts of him being in love with her are correct.

Chloe and Lucas got back together, which is lame, lame. Will somebody make Chloe understand that she can’t use God as a scapegoat?

Daniel’s boozefest at Cheatin’ Heart did nothing for me to redeem this character. I warmed to him when he first came to town, but that soon dwindled when he had no history, no mystery, no depth and no real connection to Salem, for us to get invested in. Perhaps they can redeem him. I did enjoy the scenes of him and Brady. His scene with Hope was … odd. Look for some interesting things to happen with these two.

Chelsea and Max were really cute on Wednesday’s show, and they had sex Thursday, bumping this doomed relationship up a notch. Why waste time on these two when Chelsea’s leaving anyway, one wonders? Bo went a little nutty for about two seconds when he found Max was with his baby girl, but it was Hope to the rescue when she comforted Bo. “At least he wasn’t a long haired biker,” she says. Like there’s something wrong with long haired bikers? Parents! So because of that one line, bearded Bo was suddenly happy chappy again and apologized to Chelsea for going off the deep end. Then. Then, Chelsea decided on the spur of the moment that she was moving out. Now. My head spun as she packed her pink My Little Pony bag and headed to Stephanie’s tiny apartment to live with Steph, Steve, Kayla and Joe, and Bo didn’t put up a fight… Yet we believe.

When did intelligent Hope turn dense or is she just hiding something? She saw Bo’s visions come to fruition in the past but suddenly, when she hears of the new one, she tells him it has “no basis in reality." Interesting. Let’s go backwards. She left Bo because she believed in his visions and he kept them from her. She blamed him for Kayla’s shooting, because he kept the vision from her, yet this time suddenly his visions are the result of an overactive imagination? Yeah Hope’s no dummy. What’s she hiding? Better yet, who is she hiding?

Philip/Steph and Mel: I still lump these three into their own threesome, because I know Melanie's not giving up on Philip and oddly, this week, I enjoyed all of their scenes together. Stephanie has this conviction that I respect, and Melanie just kicks arse wherever she goes, making for amused scenes.

Coiffure talk with Christine:

Bo’s facial hair made its reappearance. I like it! He should keep it. I’ve rarely ever thought somebody looked more handsome with facial hair than without.

Chloe’s beautiful locks on Thursday’s episode had a new sheen to it, it had these gorgeous highlights that I’ve never seen before. You really see those extensions. I mean I assume they are, with the way they look. It looked fantastic and healthy. I’d love to see this more often.

Nicole! I was about to rant about her 1970’s do, when suddenly, Thursday had her wearing these adorable bangs with straight tresses. Beautiful. She has never looked better. I thank the hair Gods for whatever they did. Now do me!! Do my hair!

I wanted to touch base a little on the pre-noms. I already dished on this right here, in the news room, and truthfully, I don’t have a lot to say about pre-noms, only because as we know, the actors are just putting themselves out there. Once it’s decided internally, who is going to be chosen for a nomination, we’ll dish more. Feel free to discuss those or let me know what your own thoughts were for this week.

Last thought – I’m waiting on pins and needles for Rafe to meet up with Nicole!

Have a fantastic weekend. “Steal a baby,” as my friend Shaun would say! I’ll see you back here next Friday, and until then, I’ll see you all on Facebook!

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USER COMMENTS

Posted by e25451 at
Friday, March 06 2009 12:48 AM

Great blog as usual! But I was thinking didn't Sami have a right to be mad. She walks in on EJ trying to file a complaint about Rafe. The guy did do a lot for her and EJ did dump her for her arch rival, and expects Sami to suck it up... Why doesn't he suck it up now? I do agree that her temper should be written better... BIG emphasis on written... but she is making due with whatever bogus script is given her... I just had the greatest idea ever! Why don't they start cutting back on bad writers instead of Emmy nominated actors and actresses, or well loved characters. Because I believe the real issue is how the characters we love are being written, and the storylines that seem even easier to predict. I love Chelsea and Max but why is so much time being invested in them? Oh wait I know, it is to get a break from the bogus baby theft story, Or even maybe give the Doc and Chloe a chance to rest... Whatever is going on is not cool though anyone notice that Steph/Phil/Mel all of a sudden went MIA for a bit? The longer you drop one story to focus on another makes it really hard to get invested in them. I mean as soon as you start to care they stop it, you forget about it and then the cycle starts again...right? Oh and it was good that they finally found Roman, he even got the chance to speak, poor underutilized guy that he is... Oh well gotta take the ups and the downs... and Days certainly has begun it's own soap recession, hopefully they'll start to generate some sort of storyline that will help Days out of this slump. That is why I like Safe, Mel/Phil/Steph, and and.. well that is all for now. These are just my opinions.., and hopefully I don't offend anyone especially EJami and Lumi fans. Thanks!

Posted by Iquit at
Friday, March 06 2009 10:19 AM

Ooooh shame on you! You missed the reference. Hope's line about "at least he's not a long-haired biker" was about when Bo and Hope first got together way back when - he was a long-haired biker.

Posted by shmeeb at
Friday, March 06 2009 12:48 PM

I was going to point out the same thing. Didn't Doug catch Bo & Hope and freak out? That is why Hope said that about the long haired biker. I'm sorry, but this isn't the first time I have gotten the impression that you don't know the history of the show. I also don't agree with you on the subject of Nicole's hair, it looks way better when it isn't slicked down and plastered to her head. Just my 2 cents.

Posted by SusanJeanne at
Friday, March 06 2009 01:59 PM

Great comments, Christine...although I have to say I think Daniel brings the show up a notch. He's believable and gorgeous...but the scripting needs a little work. And Chloe needs to grow up and stop being so clueless. She's drop-dead gorgeous, true, but she's really wishy-washy.

Posted by danseafan08 at
Friday, March 06 2009 02:41 PM

I enjoyed reading your thoughts chrissi as always!!! What did you mean by look for some interesting things to happen between these two chrissi???

Sami - I actually think that Sami did quite well this week and has been great for quite some time now. She refused to admit she loved EJ at all before, whereas now, she isn't affraid to admit it because deep down she does care about him and love him but she is at a new phase in her life. I sense that her attention is more focused toward her kids and being with them again and spending time with them, not that she hasn't always cared deeply about her kids because she has but something is very different about her this time around. I was very pleased to see her put EJ in his place and I think she has honestly tried to be nice with Nicole on some points but Nicole knows how to push her buttons, so all she has to do is make a smart remark and Sami feeds into it...

Nicole - I almost didn't recognize Nicole with this style. When i checked the spoilers and seen chloe, and under the pic read the caption, nicole and chloe try on wedding gowns, i was like that totally doesn't look like nicole...for a moment, i thought she had been temporarily recast but seeing the actual scene, i was like wow, what a difference a haircut makes lol. Anyways, Nicole, nicole, nicole...what tangled webs we continue to weave...Its one thing that she plotted to keep EJ after losing her baby, then blackmailing the doctor, then doing the babyswitch and then stealing sami's baby and tossing mia's to the side but for her to have the guts to treat sami the way she has is another...knowing that she has sami's baby and is right under sami's nose is disgusting and plain wrong!!! I hope that sooner rather than later that all this gets to her so bad that she can't stand it...any normal person would question why she acts so jumpy and so offensive just because sami gets near sydney...i mean come on...we all know sami has 4 kids, she knows how to take care of kids..she would NEVER hurt a child...why hasn't someone caught onto how Nicole acts when sami is near sydney???

Chloe - Chloe's hair doesn't need to be so big, clearly she's a beautiful woman, seeing her hair flat/straight is fine...she used to wear it up a lot but now she always wears it down. I have said numerous times that I had higher hope for Nadia when i found out she was coming back to days as chloe but all that went out the window awhile back. I found it ironic that she was lecturing Nicole on being stronger, more independant and to stop nagging/tracing EJ's every move and give him space....gee...why can't she take her own advice...she isn't working, she talks so highly about loving the opera and wanting her singing career yet she is not even trying to do anything about that. Instead she is caught up between two men that she in all honesty cares about but doesn't truly love. I really don't think Chloe knows what/who she wants. She wants all these things but she's not getting them from one person...She has friendship, comfort and stability with lucas and lust/passion with daniel...that tells me that she needs to rethink her situation and find someone that she can get all that from. Has she stopped to ask herself if she is truly over Brady or if she deep down wanted to pursue things with Phillip??? I remember back to the convo. at the pub between her and stephanie...it was soon after stephanie started dating phillip, chloe acted rather jealous by saying that stephanie was just a rebound for phillip and tried to caution her about how phillip was letting her know that she may not like the real phillip...Chloe knows the real phillip and accepts him like that, she doesn't try to interfere with the business and she and phillip share a history!!!

Chelsea/Max - They are cute but they don't impress me. I have tried to give a chance and to me, they were more exciting the first time around when max came to salem and they were together...I don't see any sparks, any deep connection...the only thing that comes to mind is friendship!!! I hate that Rachel doesn't have a good storyline like she had with Shawn and during Bo's illness!!! Another thing, i'm glad she is moving out but why wait this long, she will done taping soon???

Steph/Phillip - Phillip is kiriakis, he can be ruthless and has to do whats right for the business...thats a harsh reality sometimes in the business world...not saying that its right but it does happen. Steph, had this totally different image of phillip painted and now she is rethinking all that. She and phillip are sweet together but I really don't see anything happening with them.

Melanie - I have tried to get use to the character. I really hated how she always would stick her hand up to her head everytime she talked when she came to days...it was sooooo annoying, her voice is whiny and annoying most of the time. She has her funny moments but i'm still not warming up to her...she needs to learn a hard lesson...she has caused this stupid bidding war over the AFP and she clearly is in over her head...speaking of the AFP storyline...its completely ridiculous...it has become rather annoying!!!

Kate - I dont' haven anything nice to say about her at all, so i will just ask...WTH wasn't she let go??? To some degree, the actors/actresses that play these rolls have to or should do their research when it comes to portraying serious real life subjects like cancer and I feel as fan...that all of them should of done a better job with it and I feel that they have just shoved it all under the door mat...i dont' find kate interesting at all. Why has she been involved in nearly every major storyline for the past 3 years??? When other people were brushed aside, have been let go or have chosen to quit!!! Clearly i'm not a kate fan!!!

Hope/Bo - I was excited when they first started doing this vision's storyline...I was like yay....i hope we will get to see some danger or suspense but this vision of bo sleeping with another man is not interesting at all...I really think these people don't know how to write for bo/hope so they are going the typical route...that being another cheating scandal...I have been pondering how they will put this off and one scenario that i have come up with is this...I read hope gets reinstated to SPD, so what if one of these current storylines requires Hope going undercover (no pun intended) and bo has it confused thinking she is having an affair but in reality she is posing undercover...just a thought!!! Or what about this...what if kate sets it up too look like hope/daniel did something when they really didn't...she did it before with sami/brandon!!! Again, just a thought!!!

Will - I think the kid can really act...he did good so far. I'm glad they decided to answer that mystery question as well...did he really shoot ej and lucas took the wrap? Now we know...case closed.

EJ - What can you say, the actor is sexy and charming!!! BUT, why is it ok for him to question Samanther lol about her love life or life in general and tributes it to her being Johnnie's mother yet when she expressed concern to him about Nicole...he won't stand for her treating Nicole bad or talking bad about her...talk about double standards. We all can see that clearly, EJ has a major problem with Sami and Rafe....the look on his face was priceless when sami/rafe kissed!!! I was glad to see Sami stand up to EJ and defend rafe, i was very happy to see that but when EJ questioned her about her love life and threw johnnie into it...i hated that sami had to explain herself...she doesn't have to explain herself to him or anyone else for that matter...

Brady and Rafe - What can i say about these two...i loved them on passions and i LOVE them on days!!! I do wish that Brady wouldn't be used as Nicole's lapdog and used for a possible love interest for Nicole...he deserves better than Nicole...on the other hand, he and chloe look great together and you can see their chemistry!!! Rafe...didn't back down one second to EJ's antics...he did a fabulous job!!!

Daniel - Last and not least...Daniel...he should really lay off the drinking...its bad for the liver, not too mention the mood, he's a doc and should keep that in mind!!! I'm glad he is back to exercising, i would love to see him and brady in the gym...hehe. I loved seeing him with Chelsea this week...these two haven't interacted in such a long time and seeing them together was just like old times...they work so well together...still can't believe she's leaving!!! I hope to see more scenes between them before she leaves!!!

Have a great weekend everyone!!!

Posted by firebird85 at
Friday, March 06 2009 03:07 PM

Interesting comments Chrissi!

I agree with e25451 that the writers should do their homework regarding the characters.

I loved Sami's scenes with Rafe and thank goodness they threw us a crumb with today's (or Monday's show) flashback. Otherwise there is way toooooo many flashbacks - there are other creative ways to provide reminders.

I also love Melanie - she provides much needed humour and enjoy her pluck. She tries too hard to act all grown up, then next you see her moaning about have no one. I missed her & Philip this week.

The fuel's project war btw Philip & EJ (Stefan vs Victor) has gotten my attention and I hope it plays out well.

Otherwise, I am still watching and overall enjoying the show.

I am guessing from Brady's talk with Daniel about a love he can never have is about Nicole?????? Oh, the writers need to get a proper s/l for Brady instead of being someone's shoulder to lean on.

Take Care,

Posted by bghwme at
Friday, March 06 2009 07:22 PM

They’ve had months to redeem themselves and there are still issues with the character development, continuity and storyline development. So true, Chrissy. I think whoever is writing this stuff never watched a soap opera in their life! LOL

They did have a few good scenes this week and the dialogue is getting a bit better..except like you said, they are getting a little over the top with Victor's sarcasm.

Let's take Philip as a character development issue. First, he quits Titan. A few minutes later, he goes back to Titan because Stephanie tells him that's what he should do. Now, he spends all is time worrying that Daddy might fire him.

Victor hired Brady so that Philip and Brady could work together. The two of them agreed to do so. But, you never see Philip and Brady working together on anything. You see Philip flying off doing all kinds of ruthless dirty deeds "for the business"...and then Victor sending Brady in to clean up the mess...or seal the deals that Philip is working on. Which really should make Philip resent Brady, but they aren't making that very clear either.

First he's a good guy. Then, he's a bad guy who can't even figure out that what he's doing is so bad..because it's "just business."

He loses Stephanie because he sold his soul for the business, but he's OK with it...then, he wants Stephanie to give him another chance and "steer him in the right direction."

He blackmails Nicole into talking EJ into backing off the fuel project by threatening to tell EJ that she and Brady have a secret...then, he gets mad when EJ tells him to stay away from Nicole because Nicole is a FRIEND of his? Who does that kind of stuff to a friend?

What's a nice guy like Brady doing working for Victor anyway? Does he think he owes Victor something for getting him into drug re-hab? Maybe Philip should be asking Brady to steer him in the right direction. I'm not sure Stephanie knows that much about "How to Succeed in Business and Still be a Nice Guy." Do you?

Stephanie criticizes Philip for "kicking Melanie to the curb" right after she just got through sucker-punching (slapping) the kid in the face. Maybe Philip should offer Stephanie a deal. If she will "make nice" with Melanie on a personal level, he will "make nice" with Melanie on a business level.

Melanie is, after all, just a kid; and if anyone needs to be guided in the right direction, it's her.

Which, of course, brings us to Max. Why isn't he doing some guiding? He is Melanie's big brother, and Nick specifically asked him to watch over the AFP and make sure it did not get into the wrong hands. He lets her go out there, fall on her face, and then tells her that her problems are self-inflicted. The DiMeras and Kiriakis's are literally stealing the project from her and leaving her penniless.

Maybe Max knows something about the project that no one else knows and whoever gets it will have to come to him to get the rest of the formula or the code or something. Maybe there is one key element that exists only in Max's head. LOL

Maybe Max is waiting on Brady to take over running Black enterprises and wants the project to go to the one person in town who knows "How to Succeed in Business and Still be a Nice Guy."

Or...would something like that just cause everything to make too much sense?

Chloe's comment about Sami being a phoney, classless, loser got me a little riled up. She has no room to judge Sami after she slept with Daniel in the upstairs bedroom during her own engagement party for her and Lucas. That's what I call phoney and classless! She's an idiot. You would think that after she made her own mistakes, she would have a little more understanding for some of the things Sami got herself into.

I give Gelen Gering the actor of the week award. His interactions with EJ this week were the best scenes I have watched on this show in years! He was exellent.

And, his interactions with Sami convinced me that he really has fallen in love with her. The line that won me over was when he told Sami: "If I had a kid like Johnny with a woman like you, I would not concern myself with pleasing my Daddy."

I thought Sami was a little less whiny, a lot more mature, and somewhat emotional...but it was because of Grace more than anything else. She really did come back to a load of stuff. First, a terrible run-in with Nicole with Nicole deliberately taunting her, then the news that Lucas was in an accident, then the news that Lucas had started drinking again, and then Will coming back, EJ showing up on her doorstep and Rafe showing up at the same time; then EJ thinking he had the right to butt into her business..but she must stay out of his, right?

Under the circumstances, I thought she was pretty calm; and she was showing way more maturity than EJ was! LOL

Posted by LUMIFOREVERANDEVER at
Monday, March 09 2009 06:10 AM

Great blog Chrissi. I haven't watched all the shows yet but I have to say that I loved the LUMI scenes. They are so tender, even when they fight, I still see the love. The LUMI family reunion was wonderful. I think Ej and Sami have taken over the fighting couple and LUMI is the level headed couple. They talked nicely about Will and managed to hash out his living arrangements with ease. Yay for LUMI growing up!!

The ejami scenes did nothing for me...at all. They were boring and forced. Sami putting her hand on Ej's arm was just weird...and her saying that a part of her will always love Ej? WTF??? She has never admitted to anyone that she loves Ej, not even herself and then this comes out of nowhere....ejamis were CHEATED, for sure...as were the SAFE fans....Sami and Rafe have their first romantic kiss and what to we see, Ej's mug. I tell ya, if these are the couples to root for, the writers aren't given us much.

Posted by LUMIFOREVERANDEVER at
Monday, March 09 2009 06:29 AM

I would like to add that I do like Rafe. His scenes were great. If I can't have LUMI, then I really think I could enjoy Safe.

Posted by Kerriwyn at
Wednesday, March 11 2009 02:19 AM

Uhm...yeah, not so much this week, Chrissi. Really. What happened to your spot-on oppinons? I, for one, think Days has gotten a lot better lately. (Aside from this new Will, I think it was always a bad role and this new actor isn't making it any better). First off, do you not know the history of Days? Because you said that Hope made some offhand comment that at least it wasn't a long-haired biker who was sleeping with Chelsea and for some reason that made it okay. What's wrong with long haired bikers. Oh kaaay. I'll clue you in. BO was the long-haired biker she was referring to. She was saying, don't be a hypocrite and remember when we were her age. IE, we were bumping uglies and YOU were far less suitible and a lot more trouble than Max. I donno, seems like something a well-informed viewer of Days might know. As a matter of fact, they've gone over that sooo many times (as recently as this summer when Chels was with Dr. Shag-van) that it was self-explanatory and left to the one comment. Other than that, I don't recall Sammi whining at all this week, except when she was whimpering about Rafe leaving. That DID turn my stomach. As well as I can not stand Nicole's new hair do. It looks over-dyed a bad color, over processed and stringy. I'd sue a groomer if my dog ever came home looking like that. But yeah...I donno. Everyone deserves an off column now and again. Will check back this Friday and hope you're back on top of your game.